Paramedics

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT PARAMEDICS

I am not surprised that Daily Pilot columnist and former Judge Robert Gardner ("It's not a good idea to insult a paramedic," June 20) had a good experience with the Newport Beach paramedics. They do a great job. My reading of his experience with the Santa Ana paramedics is that he received good care that time also, but it was not as obvious. The diagnosis of chest pain like Gardner's is difficult, even for physicians in emergency departments. Many individuals undergo a stress test or even coronary angiography, in which dye is injected to outline the coronary arteries to determine if they have heart disease.

The theories are plenty, and also without merit. Claims that Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian doesn’t take injured, uninsured patients or that Hoag doesn’t want people critically injured because it will affect their mortality statistics come up every now and then. A perfect example: a Mexican immigrant seriously injured Feb. 1 by a hit-and-run driver at Placentia Avenue and Hospital Road in Newport Beach, literally footsteps away from Hoag. Where did paramedics take him?

COSTA MESA — City leaders' idea to add private paramedics to the county's roster doesn't have a pulse, at least for now, City Councilman Jim Righeimer said Wednesday. "We don't need one more request for proposals right now," Righeimer said. "It's not a pressing issue. " The idea, first pitched by Righeimer, was to have Care Ambulance employees work as paramedics, a higher designation than the emergency medical technician, or EMT, duties they now have. Critics claimed the move would be the first step toward laying off Costa Mesa paramedics and displacing them with Care employees, who respond to medical emergencies along with firefighters anyway.

A motorcycle and vehicle collided Tuesday afternoon at Placentia Avenue and Joann Street in Costa Mesa, sending at least one person to the hospital. Rescue workers received a call about the accident at about 3:15 p.m., Lt. Paul Dondero said. Paramedics rushed the motorcyclist to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana with significant injuries, Dondero said. The Costa Mesa Police Department’s Major Accident Investigation Team as at the scene, he said. More details to follow as the story develops.

A Southern California Edison employee is recovering from a severe burn to his hand in a Los Angeles County hospital burn center, a day after he was injured at a Costa Mesa business, company officials said. The company declined to identify the employee, but said he is a trouble-shooter for the company who fixes problems for customers at all times, day or night. The Edison employee was called to a dental office at 2000 Harbor Blvd. in Costa Mesa on Wednesday afternoon to fix an electrical problem, said company spokesman Steve Conroy.

Deepa Bharath An infant girl, who was rushed to Hoag Hospital in critical condition Friday after falling into a Corona del Mar backyard pool, died early Saturday morning. Roxane Swanson, 1, died of freshwater drowning, Orange County Coroner's officials said. Newport Beach firefighters and paramedics responded to the call that came in around 3 p.m. Friday. When paramedics arrived at the Cameo Shores home, they found the mother giving CPR to her baby, officials said.

Police arrested a Costa Mesa man Tuesday for allegedly causing his elderly mother's death by leaving her lying in a puddle of urine on the bathroom floor for two days. Robert Dickerman, 47, had been neglecting his 80-year-old mother, with whom he lived, and tying her to a bed and portable toilet, police said in a news release Wednesday. He was the only caretaker for his mother, Yoshiko Dickerman, in a cluttered and dirty home at 938 Azalea Drive. Authorities discovered the situation about 2:20 a.m. July 3, 2012, when paramedics responded to a call requesting help with a reportedly combative woman in need of medical attention.

A 25-year-old Fountain Valley man remained in critical condition Saturday after a car struck him on Newport Boulevard on Friday night. The man was walking across Newport Boulevard at Hospital Road when a car hit him around 11:50 p.m. Friday, Newport Beach Lt. Bill Hartford said. Paramedics took the man to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana. The driver of the car was not arrested at the time of the accident, which is still under investigation, Hartford said.

Newport Beach police are trying to identify a clean-shaven, well-groomed 30- to 40-year-old man who was found unconscious early Wednesday evening near the baseball fields at Corona del Mar High School. The man, who was wearing black Speedo running shorts and new dark gray Nike shoes, was transported to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian by Newport Beach fire paramedics. No form of identification was found on him. According to police, he has brown hair, stands at 5 feet 8 inches and has a light complexion.